Send Me the Pillow that You Dream On

Here are images of the installation that's up at the Allegany Art Council's Saville Gallery until November 20, 2009.







Here are the words I wrote about the project:

Send Me the Pillow that You Dream On is a continuation of my interest in gathering photographs from vernacular, or everyday, collections. Previous projects include: snapshots of people blowing out birthday candles; a grouping of pictures of ex-girlfriends and ex-best friends; and my largest collection – and longest on-going project—hundreds of photographs of strangers, their pets, their vacations, teenagers in their bedrooms, and pictures of their cars, found while walking, riding my bike, perusing copy shop trash cans, peering beneath the lids of supermarket photo scanners, walking through parking lots, riding trains, shopping...

As a person who makes art, I am concerned with making the act of making make something other than the thing made. Or, to put it another way, I want the work I do to work in a way that makes it something other than a piece of work. That being said, many of my projects are collaborative and make plain the relationship between the components.

For Send Me the Pillow that You Dream On I solicited pictures from friends, family, former students, and acquaintances in an effort to create a multifaceted group portrait. Participants were asked to send 4 photographs: a school picture from between the ages 13-17; a picture of the pillow on which they sleep; a picture shot though an oft-viewed domestic window; and a current picture of themselves.

In gathering and exhibiting these images, I’m wondering what happens when photographs from all of these lives are brought together. Is it possible to infer from the portraits the history that occurred between the making of the picture from high school and the one from 3 months ago? Does seeing the images – the pillow with its neighboring lamp and alarm clock, or the window views, be they of the Maryland countryside or Berlin – contribute to our understanding of the subject? What it is that we learn from looking?

Here is a list of the participants:

First row, from left George Allen, Prague, Czech Republic

Greg Auldridge, Rockville, MD

Robert Barrientes, Hopewell, VA

Jen Berlingo, Richmond, VA

Arlen Bolstad, Richmond, VA

Jennifer Browne, Frostburg, MD

Jason Burnett, Penland, NC

Drew Castillo, Washington, DC

Ed DeWitt, Cumberland, MD

Michelle Dove, Washington, DC

Paul Evans, Los Angeles, CA

Sharyn Frederick, Alexandria, VA

Chris Freeman, Richmond, VA

Travis Fullerton, Richmond, VA

Seth Glass, Boonsboro, MD

Second row, from left Langdon Graves, Brooklyn, NY

Heather Guhl, Fredericksburg, VA

Butch Haggard, LaVale, MD

Jessie Henson, New York, NY

Traci Horne, Richmond, VA

Michael Huggins, Berlin, Germany

Darrin Isom, LaVale, MD

Megan Kress, Bowie, MD

Kate Lacey, Brooklyn, NY

Debbie Lease, Montvale, NJ

Donna Lease, Arlington, VA

Ken Lease, Upper Marlboro, MD

Michael Lease, Richmond, VA

Peter Lease, Montvale, NJ

Serafina Lease, Upper Marlboro, MD

Third row, from left Kate MacDonnell, Washington, DC

Meg Mack-McAbee, Huntington, MD

Stephen Manger, Frostburg, MD

Susan Manger, Frostburg, MD

Sherrie Noonan, Frostburg, MD

Tiffany Seay, Farmville, VA

Todd Shelar, Baltimore, MD

R.S., Rawlings, MD

Brigette Thomas, Richmond, VA

Brad Walker, Baltimore, MD

Liz Wille, Rome, Italy

Laura Sharp-Wilson, Salt Lake City, UT

Kimberly Wolfe, Richmond, VA